Mar 19, 2024  
USC Catalogue 2019-2020 
    
USC Catalogue 2019-2020 [ARCHIVED CATALOGUE]

Molecular Epidemiology (MS)


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Students with a bachelor’s degree in quantitative biological sciences will be eligible for admission. In addition, the BA students must have completed at least one year of general biology, one semester of biochemistry and one semester of statistics to be admitted into the Graduate School. Under unusual circumstances, conditional acceptance will be offered to students who do not meet these requirements — allowing them to complete the missing undergraduate courses prior to their full admission into the Graduate School. An introductory biochemistry class is also available in the School of Pharmacy, which may satisfy the biochemistry prerequisite.

Course Requirements

The MS program requires 38 graduate-level units with a minimum grade point average of 3.0 including Epidemiology core courses, 15 units; Biological Sciences core courses, 12 units; at least 3 elective units; Research plus Thesis, 8 units. Students must also complete a Master’s thesis.

 

Admission Requrements


We offer Fall, Spring and Summer admissions into the program. For Fall admissions applications need to be submitted by June 15. For Spring admissions applications need to be submitted by November 15 and Summer deadline is April 15. Applicants will be considered on a rolling base. Applicants should hold a baccalaureate degree or foreign equivalent, and have a cumulative GPA of 3 or greater from their most recent degree. All applicants must take the GRE unless they have a doctoral degree.

Research + Thesis (8 Units)


Research towards the MS thesis can be conducted in combinations of wet and dry labs or dry labs only, and should consist of original work worth of submitting for publication in a peer-review journal.  Research can be conducted at a wet or dry lab in Preventive Medicine, Biochemistry, or Pathology.  However, a Preventive Medicine faculty needs to be included as co-chair if a thesis supervisor is selected from another department.

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